YEAR IN REVIEW

deaths2015

Sometimes the act of dying,

by itself, represents a type of

victory.

Such was the case for Richard

“Dick” Walters, who was a leader in

the effort to get the state of Vermont

to pass aid-in-dying legislation.

Diagnosed with lung cancer, Wal-

ters ultimately used the law to end

his own life in October at age 90,

becoming one of the many notables

who died in 2015.

Among political figures were King

Abdullah of Saudi Arabia; Saudi

prince, Saud al-Faisal; Delaware

Attorney General Joseph R. “Beau”

Biden III, son of U.S. Vice President

Joe Biden; Iraqi politician Ahmad

Chalabi; and Russian opposition

leader Boris Nemtsov.

Among the entertainers who died

in 2015 was an actor who helped

take TV viewers to alien worlds

while showing the common hu-

manity that unites everyone: Leon-

ard Nimoy, 83, who was beloved by

generations of “Star Trek” fans for

his portrayal of the pointy-eared

Mr. Spock.

For some, the end came far too

soon. At just 22, Bobbi Kristina

Brown died in July in hospice care.

Others in arts and en-

tertainment who died

this year: actors Chris-

topher Lee, Maureen

O’Hara and Dick Van

Patten; musicians B.B.

King, Lynn Anderson

and James Horner; filmmaker Wes

Craven; and writer Terry Pratchett.

Among those in the sports world

who died: Ernie Banks, Dean

Smith, Yogi Berra and Frank Gifford.

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2015. (Cause of death cited for younger people, if available.)

JANUARYMario Cuomo, 82. Son of Italian

immigrants who became an eloquent spokesman for a generation of liberal Democrats during his three terms as governor of New York. Jan. 1.

Donna Douglas, 82. She played the buxom tomboy Elly May Clam-pett on the hit 1960s sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Jan. 1. Pancreatic cancer.

Little Jimmy Dickens, 94. Diminutive singer-songwriter known for his sense of humor and as the oldest cast member of the Grand Ole Opry. Jan. 2.

Edward W. Brooke, 95. Former U.S. senator, a liberal Republican, who became the first black in U.S. history to win popu-lar election to the Senate. Jan. 3.

Stuart Scott, 49. Longtime “SportsCen-ter” anchor and ESPN personality known for his en-thusiasm, ubiquity and catch phrases, including “Boo-ya!” and “as cool as the other side of the pillow.” Jan. 4. Cancer.

Anita Ekberg, 83. Swed-ish-born actress and sex-symbol of the 1950s and ‘60s who was immortalized bathing in the Trevi fountain in “La Dolce Vita.” Jan. 11.

King Abdullah, 90. Saudi monarch was a powerful U.S. ally who fought against al-Qaida and sought to modernize the ultraconservative kingdom, including by

nudging open greater oppor-tunities for women. Jan. 23.

Ernie Banks, 83. Hall of Fame slugger and two-time MVP who never lost his boundless enthusiasm for baseball despite years of

playing on losing Chicago Cubs teams. Jan. 23.

FEBRUARYAnn Mara, 85. Matriarch of the NFL’s

New York Giants for the past 60 years. Feb. 1.

Niki Quasney, 38. Terminally ill woman whose desire to have her same-sex mar-riage recognized by Indiana before she died helped galvanize efforts to overturn the state’s gay marriage ban. Feb. 5. Cancer.

Dean Smith, 83. Coaching innovator who won two national championships at North Carolina, an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and induction into basketball’s Hall of Fame more than a decade before he left the bench. Feb. 7.

Bob Simon, 73. Longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent who covered riots, Academy Award-nominated movies and wars and was held captive for more than a month in Iraq two decades ago. Feb. 11. Car crash.

Gary Owens, 80. Droll, mellifluous-voiced announcer on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and a familiar part of radio, TV and movies for more than six decades. Feb. 12.

Lesley Gore, 68. She topped the charts in 1963 at age 16 with her epic song of teenage angst, “It’s My Party,” and followed it up with the hits “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” and the feminist anthem “You Don’t Own Me.” Feb. 16. Lung cancer.

Ralph Nobles, 94. Nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and later led efforts to save thousands of acres of San Francisco Bay wetlands from development. Feb. 20.

Leonard Nimoy, 83. Actor known and loved by generations of “Star Trek” fans as the purely logical science officer Mr. Spock. Feb. 27.

Boris Nemtsov, 55. Charismatic Rus-sian opposition leader, former deputy prime minister and a sharp critic of

President Vladimir Putin. Feb. 28. Fatally shot near the Kremlin.

MARCHDean Hess, 97. Retired Air Force colonel

who helped rescue hundreds of orphans in the Korean War and whose exploits prompted a Hollywood film starring Rock Hudson. March 2.

Jim Molyneaux, 94. Soft-spoken, cautious politician who led the Ulster Unionist Party through some of Northern Ireland’s bloodiest years and early efforts at peacemaking. March 9.

Terry Pratchett, 66. Fantasy writer who was the creator of the exuberant, satirical “Discworld” series and author of more than 70 books. March 12.

Malcolm Fraser, 84. Former Australian prime minister who was notoriously catapulted to power by a constitutional crisis that left the nation bitterly divided. March 20.

Chuck Bednarik, 89. Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the last great two-way NFL players. March 21.

Lee Kuan Yew, 91. Founder of modern Singapore who was both feared for his au-thoritarian tactics and admired worldwide for turning the city-state into one of the world’s richest nations while in power for 31 years. March 23.

APRILCynthia Lennon, 75. First wife of the

late Beatles singer-sonwriter-guitarist John Lennon. April 1. Cancer

Sarah Kemp Brady, 73. She became an activist for gun control after her husband was shot in the head in the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. April 3.

Robert Burns Jr., 64. Former drummer and a founding member of the Southern hard rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. April 3. Vehicle crash.

Lauren Hill, 19. Freshman at Ohio university who fought an inoperable brain tumor to play college basketball. April 10.

Percy Sledge, 74. He recorded the clas-sic 1966 soul ballad “When a Man Loves a Woman.” April 14.

Robert Griffin, 91. Former U.S. Republican senator whose withdrawal of support hastened President Richard Nixon’s resignation during the

Watergate scandal. April 16.Mary Doyle Keefe, 92. Model for

Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1943 Rosie the Riveter painting that symbolized the millions of American women who went to work on the home front during World War II. April 21.

Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, 93. Former Auschwitz prisoner and member of Poland’s underground World War II resistance who helped save Jews and later served twice as the country’s foreign minister. April 24.

Jack Ely, 71. Singer known for “Louie Louie,” the low-budget recording that became one the most famous songs of the 20th century. April 28.

Jean Nidetch, 91. New York housewife who tackled her own obesity, then shared her guiding principles with others in meet-ings that became known as Weight Watch-ers, the most widely known company of its kind. April 29.

Ben E. King, 76. Lead singer for the Drifters and solo star whose plaintive baritone graced such pop and rhythm ‘n’ blues classics as “Stand by Me,” ‘’There Goes My Baby” and “Spanish Harlem.” April 30.

MAYMaya Plisetskaya, 89. She was

regarded as one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, her career at the Bolshoi Theater spanning more than 35 years. May 2. Heart attack.

Michael Blake, 69. Writer whose novel “Dances With Wolves” became a major hit movie and earned him an Academy Award for the screenplay. May 2.

Kenan Evren, 97. Turkish general who led a 1980 coup that ended years of violence but whose rule unleashed a wave of arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings. May 9.

B.B. King, 89. His scorching guitar licks and heartfelt vocals made him the idol of generations of musicians and fans while earning him the nickname King of the Blues. May 14.

Elisabeth Bing, 100. Lamaze Interna-tional co-founder who popularized what was known as natural childbirth and helped change how women and doctors approached the delivery room. May 15.

John Forbes Nash Jr., 86. Mathemati-cal genius whose struggle with schizo-phrenia was chronicled in the 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind.” May 23. Killed along with his wife, Alicia Nash, in a car crash.

Doris Hart, 89. Tennis great who won each Grand Slam tournament at least once, and once won three Wimbledon titles in a single day. May 29.

Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III, 46. Son of Vice President

Joe Biden and two-time attorney general for Delaware. May 30.

JUNEJean Ritchie, 92. Kentucky-born

folksinger who brought the centuries-old ballads she grew up with to a wide audi-ence from the 1950s onward. June 1.

Tariq Aziz, 79. Debonair Iraqi diplomat who made his name by staunchly defend-ing Saddam Hussein to the world during three wars and was later sentenced to death as part of the regime that killed hundreds of thousands of its own people. June 5.

Christopher Lee, 93. Actor who brought dramatic gravitas and aristocratic bearing to screen villains from Dracula to the wicked wizard Saruman in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. June 7.

Virgil Runnels, 69. Former profes-sional wrestler known by his fans as Dusty Rhodes. June 11.

Jim Ed Brown, 81. Longtime Grand Ole Opry member who had solo and group hits and was a prominent figure on coun-try music TV shows. June 11.

Suleyman Demirel, 90. Former Turkish president who was a master pragmatist and survived two coups. June 17.

James Horner, 61. Composer who won Oscars for accompanying movies’ biggest moments in film such as “Titanic” and “Braveheart.” June 22. Plane crash.

Dick Van Patten, 86. Genial, round-faced comic actor who premiered on Broadway as a child, starred on television in its infancy and then, in middle age, found lasting fame as the patriarch on TV’s “Eight is Enough.” June 23. Complica-tions from diabetes.

Patrick Macnee, 93. British-born actor best known as dapper secret agent John Steed in the long-running 1960s TV series “The Avengers.” June 25.

JULYNicholas Winton, 106. Humanitarian

who almost single-handedly saved more than 650 Jewish children from the Holo-caust, earning himself the label “Britain’s Schindler.” July 1.

Burt Shavitz, 80. Reclusive beekeeper who co-founded Burt’s Bees, and whose face and wild beard appeared on labels for the natural cosmetics. July 5.

Ken Stabler, 69. He led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl victory and was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1974. July 8. Complications from colon cancer.

Saud al-Faisal, 75. Saudi prince who was the world’s longest-serving foreign

minister with 40 years in the post until his retirement this year. July 9.

Omar Sharif, 83. Egyptian-born actor with soulful eyes who soared to international stardom in movie epics, “Law-

rence of Arabia” and “Doctor Zhivago.”

July 10. Heart attack.Marlene Sanders, 84. Veteran television

journalist for ABC and CBS News at a time when relatively few women did that job. July 14. Cancer.

Tom Moore, 86. “Archie” cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of a freck-led-face, red-haired character. July 20.

Bobbi Kristina Brown, 22. Daughter of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, she was raised in the shadow of fame and shattered by the loss of her mother. July 26. Died in hospice care six months after she was found face-down in

bathtub.Lynn Anderson, 67. Her strong voice

carried her to the top of the charts with “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden.” July 30. Cardiac arrest.

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper, 61. Kilt-wear-ing trash-talker who headlined the first WrestleMania and later found movie stardom. July 31.

Howard Jones, 104. He pioneered in vitro fertilization in the United States. July 31.

AUGUSTFrederick R. “Fritz” Payne, 104. World

War II fighter ace who left his mark on aviation and wartime history by shooting down six Japanese warplanes during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Aug. 6.

Frank Gifford, 84. Pro Football Hall of Famer who led the New York Giants to a league championship in 1956 and later teamed up with Howard Cosell and Don Meredith in the “Monday Night Football” booth. Aug. 9.

Julian Bond, 75. Civil rights activist and longtime board chairman of the NAACP. Aug. 15.

Yvonne Craig, 78. She played the sexy, crime-fighting Batgirl in the 1960s TV hit “Batman.” Aug. 17. Complications from breast cancer.

Darryl Dawkins, 58. His board-shat-tering dunks earned him the moniker “Chocolate Thunder” and helped pave the

way for breakaway rims. Aug. 27. Heart attack.

Wes Craven, 76. Prolific writer-director who startled audiences with iconic subur-ban slashers like “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream.”

Aug. 30.

SEPTEMBERBen Kuroki, 98. He overcame the Ameri-

can military’s discriminatory policies to become the only Japanese American to fly over Japan during World War II. Sept. 1.

Judy Carne, 76. A star of the U.S. comedy show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” who popularized the “Sock it to Me” phrase on the hit TV show. Sept. 3.

Martin Milner, 83. His wholesome good looks helped make him the star of two hugely popular 1960s TV series, “Route 66” and “Adam-12.” Sept. 6.

Dick “Dickie” Moore, 89. Saucer-eyed 1930s child star who appeared in “Our Gang” comedies and gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss. Sept. 7.

Moses Malone, 60. Three-time NBA MVP and one of basketball’s most fero-cious rebounders. Sept. 13.

Jackie Collins, 77. Bestselling author of dozens of novels including “Hollywood Wives” that dramatized the lifestyles of the rich and the treacherous. Sept. 19. Breast cancer.

Yogi Berra, 90. Hall of Fame catcher renowned for his malapropisms and his record 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees. Sept. 22.

Frankie Ford, 76. Rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues singer whose 1959 hit “Sea Cruise” brought him fame when he was 19. Sept. 28.

OCTOBERPaul Prudhomme, 75. Cajun who

popularized spicy Louisiana cuisine

and became one of the first American restaurant chefs to achieve worldwide fame. Oct. 8.

Geoffrey Howe, 88. Former British Treasury chief who was a prominent figure in Margaret Thatcher’s government but helped bring about her downfall after they parted ways over Europe policy. Oct. 9.

Jerry Parr, 85. Secret Service agent credited with saving President Ronald Reagan’s life on the day he was shot outside a Washington hotel. Oct. 9.

Ken Taylor, 81. Canada’s ambassador to Iran who sheltered Americans at his residence during the 1979 hostage crisis. Oct. 15.

Richard “Dick” Walters, 90. A leader in the effort to get the state of Vermont to pass aid-in-dying legislation and used the rules established under the law to end his own life. Oct. 16.

Cory Wells, 74. Founding member of the popular 1970s band Three Dog Night and lead singer on such hits as “Never Been to Spain” and “Mama Told Me (Not to Come).” Oct. 20.

Maureen O’Hara, 95. Flame-haired Irish movie star who appeared in classics ranging from “How Green Was My Valley” to “Miracle on 34th Street” and bantered unforgettably with John Wayne in several films. Oct. 24.

Al Molinaro, 96. Lovable character actor with the hangdog face who played Murray the cop on “The Odd Couple” and malt shop owner Al Delvecchio on “Happy Days.” Oct. 30.

NOVEMBERFred Thompson, 73. Former U.S. sena-

tor was a folksy Tennessee lawyer whose career led him from politics to Hollywood and back again. Nov. 1.

Ahmad Chalabi, 71. Prominent Iraqi politician who helped convince the

Bush administration to launch the 2003 invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein by providing false evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Nov. 3. Heart attack.

Howard Coble, 84. His penchant for old-time politicking, humor and courtesy helped him become the longest-serving Republican U.S. House member in North Carolina history. Nov. 3.

Allen Toussaint, 77. Legendary New Orleans musician and composer Allen Toussaint, who penned such classics as “Working in a Coal Mine” and “Lady Marmalade.” Nov. 10. Heart attack.

Michael C. Gross, 70. Artist, illustrator, film producer and designer who created pop culture images, including the “Ghost-busters” logo. Nov. 16.

Kim Young-sam, 87. Former South Korean president who formally ended decades of military rule in South Korea and accepted a massive international bail-out during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Nov. 22.

DECEMBERSandy Berger, 70. Former national se-

curity adviser who helped craft President Bill Clinton’s foreign policy and got in trouble over destroying classified docu-ments. Dec. 2.

Scott Weiland, 48. Former frontman for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. Dec. 3.

Tibor Rubin, 86. Hungar-ian-born concentration camp survivor who joined the U.S. Army out of gratitude for his liberators, fought heroically in

Korea and received the Medal of Honor 55 years later. Dec. 5.

Bonnie Lou, 91. A pioneering country music artist and rock ‘n’ roll singer and who later became a TV host. Dec. 8.

Kurt Masur, 88. Conductor credited with helping prevent violence after the collapse of communism in East Germany who later reinvigorated the New York Philharmonic during an 11-year stint as music director. Dec. 19.

Leonard Nimoy Yogi Berra Dean Smith Jackie Collins Dick Van Patten

B.B. King ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

O’Hara

Biden

Sledge

ThompsonBanks

Brown

Craven

Sharif

Gore

Cuomo

Scott

Weiland